Asthmatic Mothers Beware

Should Fluffy go bye-bye? Maybe.

If Mom has asthma, then a cat in the home triples the risk that her child will develop persistent wheezing - an early indicator of asthma - by age 5.

However, allergy-prone children are less likely to develop the disease if a cat was in the home during the child's early life and Mom did not have asthma.

For most kids, exposure to a pet is good, unless the mother is allergic or if she has asthma.

If children actually do benefit from early-life pet exposure, then it would have to be in the first year when the immune system is still maturing. After that small window, a family may have a hard time introducing a pet into a home where a child is at risk for developing allergies.

The cause asthma is still unknown, but if one parent has an allergic disease, there's about a fifty percent risk that their child may develop allergies. That risk is higher if both parents have allergies.

If a family has two or more pets, a child is less likely to develop allergies.

Almost 70 percent of American homes have at least one or more pets. Some 50 million cats and 50 million dogs live with us. Ten million pet owners are allergic to cats and dogs.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder that constricts the muscles lining the bronchial airways. Symptoms include coughing, wheezing, tightness of the chest and shortness of breath. Asthmatic lungs are often referred to as "twitchy" because they overreact to allergens that are harmless to most other people. Although asthma can't be cured, there are treatments to control symptoms. Certain allergens such as pollens, molds, animal dander, dust mites and cockroaches can be triggers for attacks.

Asthma is becoming more common. About 20 million people have asthma, compared with 7 million in 1980. This includes nearly 5 million children and teens. About 5,000 deaths occur each year because of asthma. Working parents of children with the disease lose an estimated $1 billion a year in productivity.

Does Fluffy get the boot?

Parting with Fluffy can be tough, but experts urge parents to err on the side of caution with pets in the home.

Here are some tips on what you can do to cope with your allergies around pets.

• Keeping pets outside the bedroom can reduce needless suffering since people spend about a third of each day in this room.

• Pet dander is buoyant and floats freely, so you can use electrostatic or HEPA air cleaners to remove unwanted allergenic particles, especially cat dander. It may take six months after the pet has been removed to completely rid the home of cat dander.

• Avoid hugging or kissing pets.

• Don't let people with allergies handle litter boxes. Place the boxes away from areas of air filtration intake vents in homes with central heating and air-conditioning.

• Wash hands after handling or touching a pet to help avoid spreading the dander.

• Consider placing plastic covers on the couch or other upholstered furniture. Pet allergens may live where the pet sleeps or rests.

• Wash your pet weekly.

• Have a non-allergic person brush the pet regularly and outside of the home.

Related Articles Allergy Glossary Common Allergies Allergy Treatment

External Sources The American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology Allergies & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America The American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.

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